Only security for most firms a few local guards
Three days after the Xinjiang riots, Chinese ambassador to Algeria Liu Yuhe and several Algerian ministers gathered to celebrate the completion of a section of the country's east-west arterial road.
The section, called the M4, is part of a 525-kilometre stretch that was financed by China's Citic Group and is being built by the China Railway Construction Corp, which won the bid for US$5.67 billion.
When the entire 1,216-kilometre road is finished, China's state-owned oil companies are expected to transport crude oil from the heartlands to Algeria's coastline, and then by ship to mainland China to fuel its fast- expanding economy.
Statistics posted on the website of the Chinese embassy in Algiers showed that China's biggest oil companies, China National Petroleum Corp and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, as well as several mainland oil-drilling companies, have long had a presence in Algeria and many other African countries.
Many mainland financial and construction companies have also joined the 'go African' campaign.
Xinhua reported that the mainland had at least 438 companies registered to do business in Algeria at the end of September, and the Chinese embassy estimated 50,000 Chinese people were working in the country.
Analysts estimate that the number of Chinese working in North Africa is more than 100,000.
It is because of the huge presence of mainland institutions and people in the region that the Chinese embassy in Algeria became the first to issue a warning about possible terrorist attacks. This came after news reports saying Islamist terrorist groups had called for attacks on Chinese targets in the region in retaliation for the way Beijing handled the Uygur riots in Xinjiang.
Sources said that if attacks happened, Chinese institutions would find it hard to defend themselves.
A mainland insurance official who has visited Algeria and other African countries on business said security measures of mainland companies in the region had been lax.
'Many Chinese companies have bought or rented small buildings as their regional headquarters, but the only security measure has been the few locally hired security guards who watch the main entrance,' the source said.
'From what I saw and heard, most of them rely heavily on police and the local governments to provide security in case of terrorist attacks.'
Zhang Xiaodong, a researcher with the Institute of West Asian and African Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that kind of government- dependent security model had been largely effective in Algeria and many North African countries in the past. Although several Chinese citizens were killed in terror attacks in Algeria in the past two years, the strikes did not appear to be targeting Chinese.
'The Algerian government has been very co-operative in protecting Chinese companies and citizens, both because of friendly bilateral relations and the fact that mainland companies help develop their economy,' Professor Zhang said.
Chinese companies are well aware of the danger in the region. When a civil war in Algeria in the late 1990s scared many Western companies away, many mainland oil companies entered.
Li Wei, anti-terrorism expert with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said companies should have been prepared for security issues when they arrived in the troubled region.
'They go there knowing there are ethnic clashes and terrorist attacks. Their top tasks have been trying to exploit natural resources under that kind of threat, rather than avoiding it,' he said.
'If terrorists attack defenceless Chinese companies or citizens, it will be extremely hard for [them] to remain safe. Even if local governments do intervene, it could be too late,' Professor Zhang said.
